Faith, Science, and Diversity Lecture series
The Office of Inclusive Excellence brought three high-profile speakers to campus as part of the new Faith, Science, and Diversity Lecture series. They also hosted smaller integrated course-based discussions quarterly. This year’s theme, “What is creation?,” tackled common misconceptions about race, human biology, and racism, as well as wholeness and suffering.
The annual lecture series was sponsored by a grant from the Supporting Structures: Innovative Partnerships to Enhance Bench Science at Council for Christian Colleges and Universities member institutions. This three-year grant, hosted by the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford group, also provides research support and professional development training in the integration
of faith, science, and diversity for three
faculty members.
“I am so blessed to be at a Christian school learning through a biblical and faith-based lens at SPU, and this is all thanks to generous people like you.” —Elisha, Class of 2024
Theological Integration Fellows
This fall the Theological Integration Fellows Program welcomed its third cohort. This certificate program provides seminary training to faculty members who wish to better integrate their faith with their disciplines and professionally enhance their teaching and scholarship. All SPU faculty and staff profess the Christian faith, but not all have theological training. “A lot of faculty teaching at Christian universities haven’t had formal theological training if they’ve only attended secular universities,” said professor and former dean Doug Strong, who helped establish this program. “Ironically, that means some of the professors at Christian colleges have less theology coursework than their students. This is true at all Christian colleges, but I don’t know of any other Christian college or university doing what we’re doing: offering graduate-level theological training for their own non-theology faculty.” The Theological Integration Fellows Program is made possible by a generous anonymous donor.
Students gain sense of belonging in SoulCare groups
With thanks to the generosity of a handful of donors, every SPU freshman experiences SoulCare — a program adapted from the Wesleyan Holiness heritage. Students participate in SoulCare groups as a way to experience Christian community and learn about spiritual formation centered on the question, “How goes it with your soul?” Through SoulCare, students grow in their awareness and love of self, others, and God, and feel a sense of belonging in a small-group community.
Learn more about SoulCare at spu.edu/soulcare.